It’s not unusual for artists to address their lives in their music, or to promote their innocence in a scandal by dropping a verse or two in a song or on a mixtape, and R. Kelly is no different.

His new song, provocatively titled “I Admit,” addresses accusations lodged against him of sexual misconduct, pedophilia, operating an abusive “sex cult” and other charges that have appeared in the press and in his lawyers’ inbox. The song also addresses the music streaming service Spotify’s removal of Kelly’s music from service-sponsored and curated playlists.

The sheer volume of scandals attached to his name can be measured by the song’s length. “I Admit” is 19 minutes long.

Listen to R. Kelly’s “I Admit”

Over a repetitive keyboard figure and with ample use of Autotune on his vocal, Kelly brings up incidents in the middle of verses that find him cast as both a victim and conqueror. In one of the first such references, he discusses cheating on an unnamed girlfriend:

Won't say no name, I'm not a snitchBut one night at the Ritz, did some shit I shouldn't of didWent and fucked a nigga's bitchI admit, I admit that I didI fucked my girlfriends best friendYeah I tapped that in the back of my Benz

This admission of guilt comes of simultaneously as apologetic and braggadocious, a common duality throughout the song, as when he sings, “How they gon' say I don't respect these women, when all I've done is represent / Take my career and turn it upside down, 'cause you mad I've got some girlfriends.”

The story of Kelly’s alleged sex cult, exposed in a BuzzFeed article by Chicago journalist Jim DeRogatis, is addressed in several lines. “What's the definition of a cult?” he asks. “What’s the definition of a sex slave? / Go to the dictionary, look it up / Let me know I'll be here waiting.” Kelly then continues, describing some of the acts in which he engages with “some girls,” like spanking them and branding them.

Kelly even calls out DeRogatis by name in one sequence:

To Jim DeRogatis, whatever your name isYou been tryna destroy me for 25 whole yearsWritin' the same stories over and over againstOff my name, you done went and made yourself a careerBut guess what? I pray for you and family, and all my other enemies

Elsewhere, he claims Jocelyn Savage — whom Kelly is accused of kidnapping — was actually introduced to him by the same parents who made that accusation:

Her father dropped her off at my showAnd told this boy to put her on stageI admit that she was over ageI admit that I was feelin' her and I admit that she was feelin' meI admit that that's the shit that comes with being a celebrityI ain't chasing these ladies, noThese ladies are chasing me, yeah

Kelly makes mention of Spotify, after they “took me off they playlist,” as well as Steve Harvey, John Legend and Tom Joyner, who have spoken out against him, in the aftermath of his scandals.

“I Admit” also contains lines in which Kelly says he was sexually abused as a child. “Now, I admit a family member touched me,” he sings, “From a child to the age 14, yeah / While I laid asleep, took my virginity / So scared to say something, so I just put the blame on me.”

Though the overarching tone is defensive, Kelly does ask for support (“I'm calling on my hood, come walk by my side”) and even offers himself as an inspiring figure for the youth of his hometown of Chicago:

Instead of judging me, y'all should be using meTo help these kids, raise them out of depression and povertyNow I'm not saying I'm no savior, but I can be an inspiration This is an invitation

It’s difficult to imagine there’s much more for Kelly to say, but there’s no word on whether “I Admit” will be a standalone single, or the opening salvo in a series of songs addressing his public relations woes. This is, after all, the same man who dropped 33 “chapters” of “Trapped in the Closet” from 2005 to 2013.